Doing and disseminating meaningful research

Note. This is a report on a panel discussion held at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) on December 10, 2013. The panellists were: (i) D . P. Dash, Swinburne University of Technology, Malaysia (Chair), (ii) Vishwanath V. Baba, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, Canada, (iii) Peter Stokes, University of Chester Business School, United Kingdom, and (iv) Premilla D’Cruz, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India. The panel discussion was held as a part of a doctoral colloquium organized by IIMA, during December 9-11, 2013.

The panel discussion was organised as part of a doctoral colloquium and the audience included several research students. The panellists were experienced academics from institutions of higher learning in Canada, India, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, representing research interests in applied social and behavioural sciences. The audience included, among others, more than 50 research students at various stages of their studies in the social and behavioural sciences. The discussion started with the panellists presenting their individual perspectives on the topic of meaningfulness in research, comparing their lived experiences as research students themselves with their current understanding of the topic.

The discussion unravelled several dimensions of meaningfulness. The panel appeared to suggest that, our notion of meaningful research and our approach to doing and disseminating such research evolves over time, as we continue to educate and develop ourselves as researchers.

As the panellists traced the pathways of their own development as researchers, various ideas of meaningfulness emerged. For the purpose of this report, the ideas of meaningfulness have been divided in terms of their relevance to researchers at different stages of their development--early-stage, intermediate-stage, and mature-stage--although such a structure was not specifically mentioned by any of the panellists.